Seriously! I don't get it! Exercise Calories!!?!

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This makes sense. Let's say I need to eat 1,200 calories a day to lose weight. If I burn 200 calories exercising, that would put me at only 1,000 calories. So I eat those 200 calories back. Technically I'm eating 1,400 calories a day, but burning off 200 which equals 1,200 calories consumed.
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^^^THIS!!!! It makes so much sense!

Man, I must be doing it wrong....

I am obese AND I eat my exercise calories and always have....

And have lost 57 lbs since Jan.

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

:huh: :explode:

Man, I must be doing it wrong....

I am obese AND I eat my exercise calories and always have....

And have lost 57 lbs since Jan.

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

:huh: :explode:

You're doing exactly what you're suppose to and the smart way. Great work 57lbs!
I believe in eating back exercise cals. If I don't, I feel tired and weak, technically wasn't 'refueling my body'

:drinker:

After exercise, individuals should focus on carbohydrates and protein. Studies show that the best meals for a post workout refueling include an abundance of carbohydrates accompanied by some protein. The carbs replenish the used-up energy that is normally stored as glycogen in muscle and liver. The protein helps to rebuild the muscles that were fatigued with exercise. The more muscle you have on your body the more efficient it is in burning calories at rest.

The RMR represents the number of calories needed to fuel ventilation, blood circulation and temperature regulation. Calories are also required to digest and absorb consumed food and fuel the activities of daily life. For weight maintenance, moderately active people are generally advised to consume about 1.550 times the calculated RMR for example, a 30 year old female who is 5'6" weighs 145 pounds and engages in 40 to 60 min of vigorous physical activity most days of the week would maintain her weight with an intake of 2,100 calories per day. The dietary guidelines recommend that those trying to lose weight aim for a 500 calorie deficit per day. Over the course of a week, the 3,500 calorie deficit should lead to a loss of 1 pound.

For optimal long term success and overall health, gradual weight loss of no more than 1 to 2 pounds per week is best. You should not try to lose more than 2 pounds per week. Losing more than 2 pounds in a week usually means that you are losing water weight and lean muscle mass instead of losing excess fat. If you do this, you will have less energy, and you will most likely gain the weight back.

That is why you would want to eat your calories back assuming that you had put in the information that you wanted to loose no more than 2 pounds a week.

American Council on Exercise
Essentials of Exercise Science for the fitness professional

I don't understand why people find this so conceptually difficult. Losing weight shouldn't be about starving yourself until you reach a goal, then kicking back and eating properly - that's how people end up yoyo-ing for years. And I think the whole "eating enough calories to support your exercise expenditure" is even more important for obese people.

Can we all agree a few facts:

1 It is generally agreed by nutritionists that consuming fewer than 1200 calories per day will not support normal functioning adults over a period of time (with the exception of those who are incredibly short, light and approaching pensionable age).
2 To lose one pound of fat you must burn (or not consume) 3500 calories.
3 Medical professionals agree that (with the exception of the morbidly obese and even then only under medical supervision) losing more than 2lbs in a week is not a good idea.

If we agree those facts, then lets look at a realistic scenario.

I am 30, my weight is 190.6lbs and I am 5'4".
My BMR is roughly 1650 and since my job is sedentary, most sites (including MFP) have given me a Maintenance figure of around 2000.
I told the site my aim is to lose 1lb a week. The calorie limit it sets me is therefore around 1500.
I then cycle 90 minutes every week day. Which means I burn nearly 800 calories according to MFP. I don't actually believe it's quite that many, so lets say I burn 600 (which is what they think I'd burn at my goal weight).

If I don't eat my exercise calories, then I only leave 900 calories to support my body for the other 22 hours and 30 minutes of the day. Does that sound like an amount it can survive on long term? I'm sure it could do it for a month or two (the way most fad diets work), but I don't have a month or two's weight to lose.

Anecdotally, the scenario above is entirely true, and with the exception of the first couple of weeks in August (my 30th birthday celebrations were never going to be restrained) I've consistently lost more than my 1lb aim per week.

My thoughts exactly. There's a search button for a reason, people!

In order to lose body fat, your body must be in a state of negative calories. That is, you must be consuming less calories needed to sustain your current body weight. You can do this in one of two ways;

Eat below you current calorie base (amount of calories needed to sustain your current body weight);

Increase the amount of activity you do that burns up more calories;


For the best results, a combination of both. By increasing the amount of activity you do, you won’t have to reduce all that much calories.

reduce your caloric intake slowly at first and monitor your progress. Start out by cutting about 300 to 500 calories per day below your base caloric intake. For those of you who don’t know what your base caloric intake is per day, try using this simple formula. It’s pretty simple and not 100% accurate but it will give you an indication of what your calorie base should be.

Simply take your body weight and multiply it by 16. So if you weight 140 pounds, you base caloric intake should be around 2,240 calories.

There is about 3,500 calories in one pound of fat so in order to lose one pound of fat you need to consume 3,500 calories per week or 500 less calories per day. If you base caloric intake is 2,240 calories per day, you will need to cut out 500 calories per day (1,740 calories) in order to lose one pound of body fat per week. Remember, this is a rough estimate and exercise has a great deal of influence over how much weight you lose.

It’s important to note that you want to keep lean muscle tissue. Keep your weight loss to about 1 to 1 ½ pounds per week and you should be fine. Remember a small calorie deficit is the key to successful weight loss.

Always start your fat loss program with a small calorie deficit. Go for 300 to 500 calories below your calorie base and monitor your progress on a weekly basis.(my fitness pal)

There is one thing you need to remember about going into a negative calorie state;

Determine your minimal calorie requirements and never drop below that point. This is to ensure your body never starts to cannibalize itself. If the body thinks it’s not getting the necessary nutrients to maintain energy levels from your diet, it will start taking those nutrients by breaking down lean muscle tissue. Stay away from this at all costs! I suggest you set your minimum calorie requirements to 750 to 1,000 calories below your calorie base. Never go below this level.

Use exercise to burn off fat.

In order to burn fat, your body must be is a state of calorie shortage.

That is, a calorie deficit. there are basically two ways to cause a calorie deficit;

Consuming less calories than your base caloric intake and;

Increasing the amount of activity or exercise you do that burns up more calories.

Which method is better? Burning calories through exercise will always be the best way to go. Exercise, mainly aerobic exercise will burn the optimal amount of calories.

fat is only used as fuel so long as oxygen in present in the body. The only way to get oxygen into your body is through continuous exercise. By doing cardiovascular exercise for 20 minutes or more, you are filling your body up with oxygen. This in turn, will trigger the body to start using it’s body fat as a source of energy.

However, using a combination of the two will yield the best results for effective fat loss. By using a slight calorie deficit and increasing the amount of activity or exercise you do is your one-two punch against fat loss. You simply can't go wrong if these two elements are in place.

Adding weight training to a fat loss program is a very, very potent weapon against ridding the body of unwanted fat. When performed in conjunction with aerobics, this combination is the ultimate fat killer. Both exercises use up a tremendous amounts of calories while weight training sculpts the body.

Keep the lean tissue - Muscle.

Always keep the lean muscle tissue. Muscle will always be your number one metabolic fat burning machine. Your goal is to build and maintain as much lean muscle tissue as possible.

Since muscle is a very active tissue, it will aid in burning fat because it will always be used in just about any activity or exercise you do. The more of it you have, the more fat you will burn.

This is why it is so important to include resistance exercises such as weight training into your program. Firstly, weight training stimulates the muscles so that it can grow and aid in burning fat. Secondly, when you grow your muscle, you essentially firm up so that when you lose the fat, you end up with a nice, sleek and healthy body.

Have you ever noticed the physiques of people who go on a calorie restrictive diet and do nothing but aerobics. They simply end up with a smaller version of what they had before they started their program. If you start out with a pear shaped physique before your program and do nothing to stimulate your muscles, chanced are you’ll end up with a just a smaller pear shaped body after your program.

On the other hand, if you include weight training into your program and started to build the muscle instead of shrinking it, your body would slowly change shape and take on that healthy and sleek look. And no, you won't become big and bulky.

Never skip meals and start to eat more frequently.

Always try and eat every three hours. Keep your meals moderate and never gorge yourself with food. Try and establish scheduled eating times and make sure you stick to them.

By eating more frequently and in smaller portions, you’ll be able eat more food without starving yourself.

Try and keep your weight loss to 1 to 2 pounds per week.

In order to ensure that you effectively lose fat and keep your lean muscle tissue is to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week. Generally, you can only lose about 1 to 2 pounds of fat per week. Once you go above this threshold, you not only lose the 1 or 2 pounds of fat, you start losing muscle and bone density. Remember, you don’t want this. You want to keep lean tissue, not lose it.

The more slowly you lose weight, the easier it is to keep lean muscle tissue and keep the fat off. Your focus should be on exercise rather than cutting a huge amount of calories from your diet. Be patient and keep the focus on burning fat through exercise. Before you know it, your body will start to change and grow instead of shrinking.

The traditional low calorie diet has never worked and it looks like it will never will. In order to effectively lose fat and keep it off, you have to change the way you look at fat loss. The traditional definition of dieting implies a temporary solution. This will only give you temporary results. You don't want that.

So.... quality food is the key, Brule I agree with you about the the protein shakes What I really like about my fitness pal is that at the end of the day I can see how much quality food/vitamins and minerals I am eating. I use it for my clients also.

Another little tidbit is that after you eat you should feel satisfied, when you feel you are starving...... you are... so a good way of looking at it would be to be satisfied and never get hungry consume food as you need it.